“It’s All about Denial” Luke 22.54–62, Lenten Midweek # 6, 2014

1.      Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Sin is a slippery slope. In our Lenten midweek series these past few weeks  we’ve seen the extent of Peter’s slide—all the way from pride to complacency to misunderstanding to distancing his discipleship to bad company. Now tonight each of us must say, “It’s Jesus, Peter, and me; and it’s all about denial.” Tonight, Peter denies Jesus, and so have we. Is there any hope for Peter and for us who’ve found ourselves somewhere along that same slippery slope? Yes, there is.  The Jesus Whom We Deny Died to Forgive and Restore Us.

2.      Our Lord was denied by Peter on the night before his death. Review the story in your mind. Peter had first boldly declared his loyalty to Christ, even unto death. But suddenly Jesus is taken captive, and Peter is overwhelmed by fear. It drives him to panic. But not for long. Soon he’s following at a safe distance. He wants “to see the end” (Mt 26:58). He even risks going into the court of the high priest’s palace, where Jesus is on trial. The night is cold. The warmth of the fire kindled in the courtyard is so inviting, and Peter sits at the fire with the servants. But, this is his undoing. The light of the fire shines on him, and a servant girl says that he was with Jesus. Now he finds himself in a desperate situation. A lie leaps to his lips, “Woman, I do not know him” (v 57).

3.      That lie saved Peter, but only for a moment. Peter stays on. Then someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter denies it. “Man, I am not.” About an hour later, “still another insisted, saying, ‘Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.’ ” Again Peter denies it. “Man, I do not know what you are talking about” (vv 58–60). By now Peter had made his point, maybe more clearly than he realized. He’s denied his Lord three times.

4.      You and I know something of Peter’s experience. Like Peter, we’re not always alert to spiritual danger. A sudden temptation catches us off guard, and we embrace the sin. We know better, but we’re afraid to say no or we don’t want to say no. The sinful pressure of the moment turns us away from Christ. That’s denial.  A situation calls for us to confess our sin, and we fail to make it. Something should be said, and we’re silent. Our talk is vulgar and dirty, and we laugh. The conversation is unkind, and we join in. The whole thing is wrong, and we become a part of it. And when the first realization of what we’ve done dawns on us, instead of fleeing the sin, we plunge in deeper. And the last state is worse than the first. We deny Jesus by speaking or by not speaking, by doing or by not doing. It’s a reflection of our heart, where we say yes to our fears or to sin’s siren call or to the devil’s deception, and we say no to Christ. The result is bitter—in fact, it should be absolutely terrifying!—because the judgment of Christ rests upon it: “Whoever denies me before men,” Jesus said, “I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 10:33).

5.      But Jesus turned and looked at Peter. And whatever else there may have been in that look, there was surely love and compassion. That look was Peter’s call to repentance and restoration. Because Jesus died for our sins and rose again, because God laid on him the sins of us all, because Christ gave his life to ransom us, because his blood cleanses us from all sin, there is forgiveness and a new beginning for those who look to him in repentance and faith. Peter is witness to the fact that the lost can be restored, that sins are forgiven, that the fallen are raised, and that life begins again. He who said, “Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven,” also said, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (Jn 6:37).

6.      Jesus had warned Peter, “The rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me” (Lk 22:34). When the rooster crowed, Peter remembered and wept bitterly the tears of repentance.  Many churches in Europe and some in America have a rooster on top of the steeple or on a high point of the building. The rooster is a symbol of repentance and a wake-up call to spiritual watchfulness.  The rooster’s crow is heard today in our family devotions, in our worship services, in the mutual admonition and encouragement of one Christian to another. We hear it in the Word read, preached, and studied. The Word of God rouses us, like a rooster’s crowing; it warns and admonishes us and calls for our repentance.  But even more, the rooster’s crow announces the dawn. The message is that we can leave behind the night and the darkness of sin and denial to greet the dawn and the sunlight of God’s mercy and grace in Christ.

7.      The rooster crowed. Jesus turned and looked at Peter. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. This was the prelude to that unforgettable moment beside the sea, after Jesus’ resurrection, when Jesus, in effect, said to Peter, “I still want you as my disciple, Peter. Three times you denied me. Now I call you to deny yourself and follow me. Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep” (see Jn 21:15–19).

8.      What happened to Peter happens also to us. Not that all temptation is over, not that all failure is past, not that sin no longer blots the record. But this is our hope. We live by our Lord’s forgiving grace. Every day can be put to rest in this forgiving word from God: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Is 1:18). The new day can begin like a beautiful winter morning, when you look out on the wonder of new-fallen snow that has covered completely the grime and grit of the day before. When our hearts weep over our sins, the forgiveness of Jesus heals our souls. And life is new again.  This is the story of Jesus, Peter, and each of us.  Amen.

“It’s All about the Company You Keep,” John 18.18, Lenten Midweek # 5, 2014

1.      In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  Bad company leads to sin. See it in Peter’s association with the enemies of Christ. Peter followed Jesus from a distance to the high priest’s palace. Now inside of the palace, Peter finds himself in a situation highly charged with danger.  John 18:18 says, “Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.”

2.      Meanwhile, Jesus is being subjected to accusation, false witness, abuse, and trial. Outside, no doubt, are assembled some of those who had taken part in his capture in the garden. Listen in and imagine what you might be hearing. They’re discussing the events of Jesus’ capture. Listen to their ridicule and mockery of Jesus. Hear them boast of how easily they’d captured him. The blasphemy may already have begun here: “He saved others; he cannot save himself” (Mt 27:42). And there’s Peter in the midst of the enemies of Jesus, Peter who had fled, Peter who had followed from a distance, as we spoke about last week. It’s not that he’s chosen to hang with them, become part of their crowd. He’s even there for the right reason—to see Jesus. But he’s put himself in a dangerous situation. His presence among the enemies of Jesus eventually led to his denial of Jesus.

3.      Peter’s situation isn’t unique. We, too, find ourselves in bad company, among evil associates. They’re around us without our seeking them. We have these contacts where we live, work, go to school, and seek our pleasure and recreation. It’s true simply because we’re part of human society. The problem is that we naturally desire the approval of people around us, whether their influence is good or bad.

4.      We live among people who are a bad influence, and they pressure us to conform to their style of life. They tempt us to be like them—to be dishonest in our work, cheat on our spouses, or imitate them in a worldly, materialistic outlook on life. You find yourselves attracted by a crowd that tries to draw you into the abuse of alcohol, drugs, or sex. The approval of such people may give you a warm, fuzzy feeling, but it’s full of danger.

5.      Sometimes we go asking for trouble. The books and magazines we read, the movies we see, the radio and TV programs we hear and watch, the Internet we explore—these things become daily companions that we choose, and often they’re very bad company. Our lives are greatly influenced by these companions of our leisure hours.  We are warming ourselves at the fire of the enemy. The fire will consume us. It is the fire of hell. Friendship with the world is death as James the Apostle reminds us.

6.      But friendship with God is life. Jesus is the friend of sinners. “I have called you friends,” Jesus said (Jn 15:15). When Judas placed the betraying kiss on Jesus’ cheek, he said, “Friend, do what you came to do” (Mt 26:50). “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Jesus said that. Jesus did that, for you and for me. “[He] made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant. . . . And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:7–8). He was obedient where you and I are disobedient. He died for our sins, so we need not die in our sins. We’re forgiven. We’re at peace with God.

7.      This was Jesus’ whole purpose in coming to earth—to reestablish our relationship with God, which our sin had broken, to bring us back into God’s company. Jesus has drawn us back into the circle of God’s friendship—even more, into the circle of God’s family. We have a bond with God that means we’re free from the sin- and death-riddled friendship of the world. What a friend we have in Jesus!

8.      Now you can live in the world and yet not be of the world. How do you do that? By not deliberately seeking employment, company, or fellowship with people who are manifestly godless or who are open enemies of Christ. And since you live in the world and must deal with enemies of Jesus every day, be a witness for God and for good.

9.      There’s a time to flee from the presence of evil associates. St. Paul brings us this counsel from God: “Go out from their midst, and be separate from them” (2 Cor 6:17). The Scriptures are full of examples and exhortations to flee from the presence of evil. We have the example of Joseph in Egypt, who fled from the presence of the temptress, Potiphar’s wife (Gen 39:12). St. Paul advises young Timothy to “flee youthful passions” (2 Tim 2:22). When he speaks to Timothy about materialism and covetousness, he advises, “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things” (1 Tim 6:11). There’s nothing cowardly in such flight. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is to get out and run for your life. The decision to stay or run must be immersed in earnest prayer for divine guidance.

10.  Peter made the mistake of failing to identify himself as belonging to Jesus. His presence in bad company soon led to his denial of Jesus as his Savior & Lord. It can also happen to us. Traveling in bad company can cause us to lose our greatest friend, Jesus, the friend of sinners. What a loss!

11.  Jesus saves us from all that. The agony of the garden, the pain and death of the cross were all for you. When you are weak, when you stumble, when you fall, there’s a way up; there’s a way back. There is confession. “O God, I have sinned.” There is absolution. “God has put away your sin.” Then follow, by God’s grace, the growing desire to live and walk in the company of God.  This is the story of Jesus, Peter, and each of us.  Amen. 

“Jesus Turns the Darkness into Light” Isaiah 42.14-21, sermon notes Lent 4A, March ‘14

1.                        Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The message from God’s Word for us on this 4^th Sunday in Lent is taken from the readings for today from Isaiah 42:14-21, Eph. 5:8-14, and John 9:1-41.  The message is entitled, “Jesus Turns the Darkness into Light,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                        Isaiah preached to a people that were deaf and blind.  Deaf to God’s Word that is.  Blind to His will to be their God and to save them.  Israel turned her back on God.  And when you do that — you plunge yourself into darkness.  The deep, deep darkness of unbelief and death!  Israel got used to living in the darkness and death of her sin.  Very comfortable with the darkness and her sin!  Loved the darkness!  Relished her sin.  Used the darkness of unbelief and death as a cover to shield her from God the Light. 

3.                        Israel went her own stubborn way.  Self-centered. Self-absorbed.  Looked after her self-interests.  And when trouble came she ran after false gods – idols. Israel became like the idols she worshiped – eyes that couldn’t see.  Ears that couldn’t hear.  Mouths that couldn’t speak. 

4.                        We’re really no different than Israel of old.  If we’re not completely deaf to God’s own voice that speaks to us in His most holy Word, we’re bored to death with it.  We put up every sort of excuse not to hear or study God’s Word. We listen to ourselves with religious fervor.  When ultimate issues confront us do we turn to God’s Word?  Instead, we look deep inside ourselves for answers!  Whatever idols we have built for ourselves we fanatically obey!  And then we wonder why hardly anyone is attracted to Christ and His church!  And why we’re all so strung out and have so many nervous breakdowns.    

5.                        We’ve become quite comfortable and cozy with the darkness!  A deep spiritual darkness has overtaken us!  It is the separation from God because of our sin.  Cold hearts.  Darkened minds.  Adam’s sin and our sin blind our eyes.  We can’t see.  We don’t know where we’re going.  We’re helpless.  We can only grope in the darkness of death.  Eternal death.

6.                        Enter Jesus.  Light of the World Jesus as we see Him in our Gospel lesson today from John 9!  Pay attention everyone!  He’s going to use a man born blind as an object lesson.  The blind man’s eyes don’t work because of some horrible sin he or his parents committed.  Instead, it’s so “the work of God might be displayed in his life.”  After all, the time for repentance won’t last forever.  God won’t tolerate the apathy, the boredom, the indifference and the blindness of unbelief forever.  “As long as it is day,” Jesus says, “we must do the work of him who sent me.  Night is coming when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

7.                        So it’s time to listen up everyone!  Now, not later, is the time to fix your eyes on Jesus!  Why?  Because He’s the author and perfecter of our faith!  Because He’s the Light of the world!  He comes to bring the spiritually dead back to life!  He comes to give light to those spiritually blind.  Jesus comes to turn our darkness into light! 

8.                        And Jesus will use a man blind from birth to illustrate this truth.  “That the work of God might be displayed in his life.” So Jesus goes to work on the always been blind man.  Spits on the ground.  Makes some mud.  Puts the mudpack on the man’s eyes.  After shoving greasy mud into the man’s eyes, Jesus commands:  “Wash off all that mud I just poked into your eyes at the pool called Siloam.”   Good thing the blind man has ears to hear!  He’s not deaf to Christ’s Word.  He does what Jesus says and behold:  “He returns home!  And he can see perfectly!”   Physical sight that is!  The eyes work!  For the first time in his life!  Jesus turns the darkness into light. 

9.                        And then comes spiritual sight. Jesus asks him:  “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” And the seeing eyes for the first time ever man asks:  “Who is he that I may believe in him?”  Jesus responds with an astounding fact:  “You have now seen him.  In fact, he is the one speaking with you!” Incredible!  The healed man standed before the eternal Son of God!  And so he cries out:  “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Jesus!  Jesus turns the darkness into light!

10.                    Jesus has come to you too.  You that were born blind.  Spiritually blind.  Spiritually dead.  Spiritually in the dark.  Jesus poked the mud of His Law into your eyes to show you your sin and your helpless condition.  Then He took you in His nail-scarred hands and washed you in the cleansing and renewing water of Holy Baptism.  Rescued you from the darkness of damnation and brought you into His marvelous kingdom of light! In Holy Baptism you were enlightened with the Spirit’s gift of saving faith. Seeing Him for who He truly is:  your Savior!  Jesus turned your darkness into light!     

11.                    “Once you were darkness,” the apostle says in today’s Epistle (Ephesians 5:8).  “But now you are light in the Lord” so that you “live as children of light.”  Life was never the same for the blind man Jesus healed! Jesus called him to faith.  Life is never the same for you that are baptized into Christ, washed, cleansed, and called to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit through Baptism.  You’ve been brought from death to life in the wounds of Jesus.  Jesus has turned your darkness into light!

12.                    And so you live your lives differently.  What does that mean?  It means living a life of forgiveness.  Who has hurt you?  Who has sinned against you?  Someone at school?  At work?  In your family?  In our congregation?  What was it that person said?  Or did to you?  What are you going to do?  Go back to living in darkness and death?  Hold grudges?  Plot revenge? Make threats under your breath?  Strike back?  That’s not the way of life.  That’s all in the way of deep darkness and death.  “It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret,” Paul says in the Epistle (Ephesians 5:12). 

13.                    Because of Jesus and the faith He’s given you, you are given to live as children of light!  Forgive.  Let all the sin committed against you go.  Christ died for you.  All your sin is forgiven in Him.  One of the highest and holiest divine callings in your life then is forgive those who have sinned against you just as Christ has forgiven you.  Let the light of Christ’s forgiveness melt your hearts and those that have hurt you.  Let Christ and His blood mediate between you and those who have hurt you. Otherwise you will destroy each other, your family, your society, our congregation. Darkness! Death!   

14.                    We who have been brought into the light of Jesus are called to live differently in another way too.  We no longer cover our sin with fashionable fig leaves of every variety. We no longer scurry like cockroaches into every dark corner when the light comes on.  Instead, we let the bright beams of Christ’s death shine brightly into every dark corner of our lives. 

15.                    Do you get what I’m saying here?  It means this. Children of the Light of Jesus, with the Holy Spirit’s help, fight against themselves.  Daily using God’s holy Word to go to war against your own sinful flesh and all your pet sins.  God’s Word is the sword of the Spirit that slays you and then raises you up to faith in Jesus! And so each day you engage in a life or death struggle with your old Adam, you old sinful nature.  In such a tussle, sin will never be as much fun again.  Exposed in the Light of Jesus’ death on the cross, sin is now seen for what it really is.  It is a horrible, wicked, deep dark monster.  And so you are given to die to your sin!  And live to God through faith in Jesus!  Every day!    

16.                    Can you imagine being given the gift of sight and then going back to being blind?  Can you imagine being given the gift of spiritual sight in Jesus but then going back to darkness and death? May it never be! You belong to Jesus!  He has interrupted your existence.  Died on a Friday called “Good.”  Rose from the grave!  Buried you with Him into His death and resurrection that counts for you in Baptism.  He saved you through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on you generously.   Called you by the Gospel.  Enlightened you with faith in Him!

17.                    What is there left to do?  I would suggest exactly what the man Jesus healed said and did:  “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Jesus.  That’s “fixing our eyes on Jesus” as the Gradual for Lent teaches us.  And, so we worship Jesus all our lives and we thank Him for turning our darkness into light!  Amen.

“It’s All about Distant Discipleship” Matt. 26.57–58, Lenten Midweek # 4, 2014

1.                        In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  One of the great problems we face in life is fear. We’ve fought wars so we can live in our country without fear. We maintain a strong defense posture, we’ve devised nuclear weapons to deter any nation from attacking us. With our nuclear arsenal, we should have nothing to fear. But now, suddenly, we face simple explosives strapped to a suicide bomber. And we’re afraid. No matter how we try to be safe and secure, there’s always something to fear.

2.                        We are fearful also in our lives as Christians. Tonight we can say, “It’s Jesus, Peter, and me; and it’s all about fearful, and thus distant, discipleship.” We’re going to look at our fears, which make us distant disciples. But more than that, we’re going to look at Jesus.  The Fear That Makes Us Distant Disciples Is Forgiven and Overcome in Christ.

3.                        Jesus’ disciples were, for a time, fearless in their discipleship. They were inspired by the success of his preaching, his popularity, and his demonstrations of power and authority. How quickly all this changes during that last visit to Gethsemane! We see Jesus taken, bound, and led away as a common criminal. Confidence and optimism change to fear. Tonight we see Peter, the fearful follower, the disciple who follows Jesus from afar.

4.                        The enemies of Jesus had long planned to do away with him. And now, at last, their opportunity had come. “Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered” (v 57). Jesus must face them alone. But as we see him led away, we find he is not entirely alone. “Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end” (v 58). Peter kept his distance, a far-off disciple.

5.                        Sometimes we, too, are distant, far-off disciples. What is that distance like? Often, it’s being a halfhearted disciple. It’s following Jesus only when it’s convenient, when it requires no sacrifice. In other parts of the world, loyalty to Christ still costs Christians their lives. In comfortable America, what are we willing to do or not do for the sake of Christ? You’re in class, discussing great books—the Bible, the Qur’an, the Upanishads—and everyone, including the professor or teacher, is affirming that “all roads lead to the same place.” You know Christ is the only way to heaven. But what do you do? Do you politely, humbly, testify to your faith in Jesus as the only Savior, or do you distance yourself from the whole conversation, keep quiet, hide out? Over 3,000 infants are being killed every day in the United States by abortion. You have an opportunity to join in a walk-for-life in  your community, but, of course, somebody might see you. You might even wind up on the local news. What do you do? Stand up tall for the sanctity of God’s gift of human life, or decide that, “Well, actually there’s a lot of yard work I need to get done on Saturday”? These questions have to do with discipleship.

6.                        Fear kept Peter at a distance in his discipleship. Fear is at the heart of our faulty discipleship. We don’t always have the courage of our convictions. We’re afraid to live our faith because we’re afraid of the consequences. We’re afraid we might be ridiculed, we might lose our popularity, we might be considered odd or different. We may not get ahead in life as fast if we put what’s right, what’s honest, what’s unselfish above everything else. All this is a sign of spiritual distance from God. We’re afraid, so we follow from a distance. The distant disciple may soon not be a disciple at all.

7.                        What should we do? When you’re afraid of what it means to be a follower of Christ, think on him. In his suffering and death you find the answer to the fear of being too close to Jesus. His life, death, and resurrection count for you. He bore your sins in his body on the cross. He lives again, having disarmed the powers that frighten you and keep you from faithfully following him. God’s “Fear not” echoes throughout Scripture to reassure you. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Is 41:10). “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Is 43:1). Fear has to bow before our Lord’s “Fear not.” Jesus draws us close to the heart of God as his redeemed, restored, forgiven people. The fear of being a disciple has to let go.

8.                        So the call comes from Jesus, “Follow me.” His path leads to his cross and his empty tomb, where your sins of distant discipleship have been put away forever. His path leads to the death of your sinful self, because he’s alive in you. His path leads to love, compassion, and service to your fellow man; we call it the Christian life. This is not uncharted territory. Jesus is ahead of you. You follow him. He’s been to the cross, to death and back. He went to forgive you and to fill you with the heart, will, and strength to be his loyal disciple. 

9.                        Peter followed at a distance to see the end. No doubt he expected the worst. But the end turned out to be the best, for Peter and for us. The end turned out to be the cross and then the resurrection. It was the end of sin’s guilt, sin’s power, the devil’s might, and the fear of death. The end is the beginning for us, the beginning of the forgiven life, the new life in Christ, the life of discipleship, with the ongoing grace to grow in following Jesus.  This is the story of Jesus, Peter, and each of us.  Amen.

“Quench Your Thirst with the Living Water!” John 4.5-26, Lent 3A, 2014

1.            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this 3^rd Sunday in Lent comes to us from the Gospel of John chapter 4:5-30.  Here in we see that our sins give us an unquenchable thirst (vv. 5-18), but Jesus our Savior offers us living water to quench our thirst (vv. 10-14, 19-26).  The message is entitled, “Quench Your Thirst with the Living Water,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.            “Will you give me a drink?” Jesus asked. New Yorkers consume 1.5 billion gallons of water a day, and this will increase to two billion by 2020 when a new water tunnel is finished. Begun in 1970, the five billion dollar tunnel will be a mammoth 60 miles long, 200 to 800 feet underground, and will deliver water to 6,000 miles of distribution mains. Already 20 workers have been killed and 1,000 injured on the project. All this to “give a drink” to the thirsty people of the Big Apple. And, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again” (John 4:13).

3.            The Scripture lessons for this Sunday emphasize these truths: The Lord saved the human race from its sins through a Savior, through one Savior. Jesus Son of God was born into the human race to cleanse us from our sins by his holy life and His sacrificial death. He came from Abraham’s descent, according to His human nature. But He is Savior of all. No one can merit the kingdom of heaven. Rather, those who are of the faith of Abraham receive God’s promise of life everlasting.

4.             The lessons for Lent prepare us to properly celebrate Good Friday and Easter. This Sunday we rejoice to remember that the Savior came for all. Here in John 4 we see Jesus in all His compassion and love seeking a lost sinner of the Samaritan race. We see the Son of God’s power in action, a power that works through His Word to create spiritual life. We see that Jesus alone can quench our thirst for life with God.

5.            John 4:5-15 says, ^“5So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.  ⁷There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

6.            By observing the Samaritan woman, we see a mirror reflection of ourselves. We have no right to claim we’re God’s chosen people due to our race, background, or human effort. Like the woman, we would rush headlong into a lifetime of sin, trying to gratify that inner craving, that unquenchable thirst for real life, eternal life. Are not the epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse, the pursuit of sinful pleasure, and the mad craze for earthly wealth symptoms of this thirst?

7.            The journey through the barren desert of our fallen, sinful world is hot and dusty business.  In the midst of this barren wilderness, we thirst as our tongues cling to the roofs of our mouths.  We search, looking and hoping for some relief.  We’re parched by sin and threatened by death.  We struggle in this wasteland until our very souls are dried up like a leaf in autumn, threatening to be blown away by the winds of winter.  We search and look around us, but we see no water, no moisture for our thirsty souls.  We groan and moan in our helpless, hopeless condition.  In the midst of this desert, where will we find water?

8.            Nowhere will we find water in this barren desert.  Nothing can quench our thirst, except our Lord Jesus Christ.  He pours out his living giving waters upon us.  “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling…  Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.”  From the side of our dear Savior Jesus who was crucified on Calvary’s cross for the forgiveness of our sins flows the water and the blood.  From His side flows the water of salvation that can quench our thirst.  From His side flows the water and the blood, cleansing us from the guilt and power of our sin.  From the side of Jesus we drink of the waters as they flow over us from the baptismal font.  Through Jesus we quench our thirst from the living water that flows from His side.

9.            Jesus comes to us. He offers us the living water of eternal life. By believing in him, we are drinking of that water freely, fully. Our consciences rest. Our haunting doubts dissolve. Our vain pursuit for real life, empty and hopeless without Jesus, is over. Jesus satisfies our thirst. By the gospel in Word and sacrament, the Holy Spirit has called us to faith in Jesus. The gifts of forgiveness of sins, peace with God, the confidence to call God our Father, and fellowship with God now and forever in heaven quench our thirst for eternal life.

10.        Religion has become popular again in America. Students on college campuses don’t hide their quest for the spiritual. You no longer are considered odd if you speak openly of your religion. But the religion that is popular is false. Many profess to worship in spirit. Their emotional enthusiasm, their introspective meditation, or their “supernatural” experiences convince them that they have found true worship. The truth of Christ crucified and salvation through Him alone, however, is still unpopular. Natural man rebels in pride against the necessity of a Savior from sin.

11.        Jesus taught the woman of her need. He’s taught us of our need through His holy law. He’s taught us of forgiveness through His death and of justification through His resurrection. Thank God that He’s given you the gift of faith. Worship Him then in spirit and in truth.

12.        While religion is popular today, confusion reigns. People are searching the stars for guidance. They consult the gurus of Eastern cults. They seek to find hope in New Age pantheistic ideas. They look for the god within themselves. Their thirst rages on. The woman knew that the Messiah could answer her questions. How she must have been thrilled to hear Jesus say, “I am he!” Take heart in knowing that the same Jesus, the holy Son of God, is our Savior. He answers our questions about the true God and how to have life with Him. The news, “I am he,” will bring peace to our troubled, often doubting and confused hearts.

13.        See again how Jesus in love, singled out this Samaritan woman. Her past was tarnished. She had destroyed her life. Her guilt was overwhelming, but Jesus approached her in love. He patiently led her to see in Him more than a tired, thirsty Jew. She saw in Him the Christ, the One who could cleanse her from her sin. She became a believer, for Jesus’ powerful words drew her to faith. She became a witness, for everyone who trusts in Jesus becomes a missionary.  Jesus alone can quench the thirst for our thirsty souls with His life-giving water!  Amen.

“It’s All about Misunderstanding” John 18.1–11, Lenten Midweek # 3, 2014

1.      In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  Misunderstanding is dangerous. You can fail a test in school, lose a friend, or generate hard feelings in your family because of a misunderstanding. But, the greatest danger of all is that misunderstanding can destroy you spiritually.  Doubt and misunderstanding go back to the beginning. Satan planted doubt in the mind of Eve by questioning her understanding. “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” (Gen 3:1). “Are you sure you understood him correctly?” We’re aware of the tragic results. Ever since, Satan has used doubt and misunderstanding to destroy people.

2.      Tonight we confess, “It’s Jesus, Peter, and me; and it’s all about misunderstanding—for Peter, for the other disciples, and for us.” But, we’ll go beyond misunderstanding to the true meaning of our Lord’s mission.  Jesus’ mission is misunderstood as earthly, but it is spiritual: the redemption of mankind.

3.      The mission is under way. We find Jesus and his disciples in Gethsemane. Look, a crowd led by Judas approaches, armed with a varied assortment of weapons. There’s an exchange of words: Jesus walks forward and asks, “Whom do you seek?” They answer, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he” (vv 4–5). They draw back and fall to the ground. They’re not struck down by mere words. Armed men are struck down before an unarmed man by divine power. Jesus’ surrender is willing. Of his own free will, he goes forth to lay down his life for the world.

4.      But now Peter’s confidence begins to crack. Imagine what’s going through his mind. What’s happened is incredible to him. Everything the disciples had hoped for—an earthly kingdom, places of honor and power in that kingdom—it’s all collapsing. The master is taken captive. So Peter gathers up his courage. He feels he must rise to the situation. Impulsively, he draws his sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant.

5.      Peter has badly misunderstood Jesus’ mission on earth. Had he recalled how Jesus fled when crowds wanted to make him an earthly king (6:15), how Jesus had told the disciples he must suffer and die, Peter would have seen that the course of events was now fitting neatly into Jesus’ prophecies. He would have seen that Jesus must be taken, tried, condemned, and crucified.

6.      What form does misunderstanding Jesus’ mission take today? We misunderstand Jesus, for example, if we look to him only as a source of material blessings for this life. That’s wanting God on our side, as a kind of Santa Claus, to fill life with all good things. So we’re sorry that our sins may deprive us of some earthly blessings. But we’re not always sorry that our sins grieve God or hurt other people. We repent for fear that God will take away the things of this world. But we’re slow to repent for fear that sin will separate us from God.

7.      We misunderstand Jesus if we look to him only for the hour of death and for eternity. That’s thinking of him as a kind of insurance policy, whose value kicks in only at death. We’re not always interested in Jesus and his will for our lives today and tomorrow. We want a Savior, but not a Lord. We want forgiveness of sin, but are slow to seek strength to overcome sin now, in Christlike living.

8.      We misunderstand Jesus if we see him and the Church as a status symbol. Then faith is seen as calling ourselves Christian in name only. We want to say we’re members of a church. We want a place to be married and a place to be buried, and not much more.  As they used to say, a place to be hatched, matched, and dispatched, that is to be baptized, married, and buried.  How sad is that if that’s the way you see what it means to be called a disciple of Jesus?

9.      None of this will do. Jesus wants to be Savior and Lord of every moment of every day of every year of our lives and into all eternity. Why? Because anything less than this is death. He wants to forgive us now, to help us live new lives now, to learn to love as he loves now, and to serve as he serves now. Why? Because this is life instead of death. If we don’t look to him for all of this, we misunderstand him. This satanic deception stands between us and Christ, and we’re in danger of being lost now and forever.

10.  But Jesus does not give up on the lost. Remember? Jesus’ mission was to seek and to save the lost. Jesus understood his mission. Jesus himself defined his mission in those words: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk 19:10). Follow the action of our text. Jesus didn’t let anything, not even Peter’s sword, prevent him from going to the cross: “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (v 11). As you look upon that garden scene, see his willing surrender. “I am he,” Jesus replies when the crowd asks for Jesus of Nazareth. And then he adds, “If you seek me, let these men go” (v 8). He willingly delivers himself into their hands as the Lamb of God to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. But to the last Jesus held his protecting hand over his disciples, reminding his captors they were to arrest only him.

11.  “Let these men go” (v 8). Realize these words are also for you. Jesus is speaking of you. This is his message: “Your sin is mine. Your death is mine. Your hell is mine. It all has to let you go. I will be wounded for your transgressions. I will be bruised for your iniquities. By my suffering and death, you will be healed. So, go your way. I have your sin, your guilt, your death, and your hell. You don’t have them anymore. Go! You are forgiven. You have peace with God. You are free.” This is Jesus’ mission. It has been fulfilled for you. Your redemption is accomplished. Its fruits keep flowing into your life, empowering you day by day to repent, believe, and live as a forgiven child of God with new life in his name.  This is the story of Jesus, Peter, and each of us.  Amen.

“It’s All about Complacency” Matt. 26.36–46, Lenten Midweek #2, 2014

1.    In the name of Jesus. Amen.  Be prepared. Don’t be caught off guard. That’s what history has taught us as a nation, and we’ve learned the lesson well. We’re determined that another 9/11 terrorist attack that killed so many people in New York and the World Trade Center won’t happen again. We can’t afford to be complacent.

2.    But, can we also can’t afford to be complacent in spiritual matters and push the things of eternal value out to the fringe of life. If Satan finds us like the disciples, asleep, he will rob us of everything that gives purpose to this life and promise for the life to come. Failure to see the danger and to be prepared for it leads to a person’s spiritual bankruptcy and ruin.

3.    Tonight we go to a place called Gethsemane. It’s a place where Jesus often gathered with his disciples to find rest and strength in communion with his heavenly Father. But this night there will be no rest. Here Jesus is wrestling with God in prayer, even while he wrestles with Satan’s power. In his humanity, he seeks the presence and comfort of his disciples. He wants them to be present not just for himself, but to prepare them for what they, too, must face. “Watch and pray,” he says, “that you may not enter into temptation” (v 41). He wants them to find strength for what lies ahead.

4.    This night there’s no time for spiritual complacency for us either. So this night let’s hear how As Jesus deals with His sleeping disciples, so He deals with us, to awaken us from any and all spiritual complacency.  Matthew 26:36-40 says, “Then Jesus went with [the disciples] to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’ And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not watch with me one hour?’ ” (vv 36–40). Two more times Jesus would come and find the same thing—the disciples sleeping.

5.    Notice that Jesus addressed Peter specifically. Peter had boasted that he wouldn’t fall away. He above all shouldn’t have been sleeping. Last week we saw that Peter’s boast wasn’t based on faith, but on pride—confidence, overconfidence, in his own resolve. Well, if he was going to keep himself from falling, he certainly should’ve been watchful, alert, ready for anything. But this week Peter adds to his overconfidence. Peter is oblivious to the threats that might be out there. No real danger could be coming, not at this hour. And temptation? That hasn’t crossed Peter’s mind. Temptation to what? Yet by his conduct in the next few hours, Peter would demonstrate the folly of overconfidence, pride, and complacency.

6.    Peter and all the sleeping disciples reflect our own state and conduct on many occasions. Tonight we say, “It’s Jesus, Peter, and me; and it’s all about complacency.” So we, too, need Jesus’ warning: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  How would Jesus elaborate on his warning for us today? Maybe like this: “I want you on guard against all the works of the flesh—things like greed, envy, lust, hatred, and all the rest. So, watch and pray!” But often we don’t. We doze off and let these sins move in on us. “Don’t let anyone distract you from my Word, where I teach you how to have abundant life and how to live forever. Watch and pray!” But often we don’t. We doze off and so readily neglect the preaching and teaching of God’s Word and Sacrament in the life of the Church. “Keep your priorities straight. It’s all right to work hard, to get ahead, to be a success, to make money. But let those things be your servant, not your master. Watch and pray!” But often we don’t. We doze off and get comfortable in all these earthly things and material possessions and put them in first place, at the top of life’s priorities. And the spiritual side of life languishes.

7.    This failure to watch and pray happens gradually.  In fact CS Lewis writes in his Screwtape Letters, “The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”  This putting God’s things last, this leaving him out of our thinking, planning, and living, this ignoring of his divine and loving will has made us complacent. Jesus’ message is to wake up from any spiritual drowsiness, lest you sleep the sleep of spiritual and eternal death.

8.    As they slept, look at what the disciples missed. What did it mean, this agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, this wrestling with God in prayer? Did it mean that Jesus was afraid of suffering, afraid of death? No, this is what it means: Here was the ultimate temptation to overcome, the temptation to avoid the cross. Here’s Jesus in his humanity, praying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (v 39). And his prayer is answered. God’s will is done. Jesus goes forth to meet his betrayer. God’s redemptive work is reaching its climax—dead ahead. Now it’s forward—to the cross.

9.    The suffering in Gethsemane, climaxing on the cross, is deeply personal for each of us. How important that we are wide awake to it, for only here can we lift our eyes in hope. Here is the great transfer. The sin of every man, woman, and child, of all time, the sin of our past, present, and future, is taken from us and put on Christ. Isaiah said it this way: “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Is 53:6). He became sin for us, writes St. Paul (2 Cor 5:21). With the sin goes the guilt, the punishment, and the hell for every human being who has lived, who is living, and who will live. It’s all on Jesus.

10. This is not how we think. This is how God thinks. This is how God acts. He says it counts for us. Our sins are on Jesus. Our death is on Jesus. Our hell is on Jesus. This is God dealing justly with our sin, so that in Christ he can deal mercifully with us. Let the Good News beat upon your mind and heart. Hear it from St. John: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29). Hear it from St. Paul: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). Hear it from Jesus himself: “Take heart; . . . your sins are forgiven” (Mt 9:2). There’s only one word to describe it—love! “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:16–17).

11. This is the Gospel. It wakes you up. It moves you to pray, for now you can “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that [you] may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). This Gospel wakes you up to confession, to repentance, to forgiveness, to be daily in his Word and prayer, to say with the psalmist, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’ ” (Ps 122:1). This isn’t Law. This is Gospel, because in these things you find spiritual opportunities to receive from God forgiveness, love, joy, peace, and grace to come out of sin’s death, to life with God at the center of everything.

12. No more complacency when you’re awake to your sin. No more complacency when you see that the agony of the garden, the suffering of the cross, and the victory of Easter are all for you. This is a great miracle. It takes away your sin. It bridges the gulf between you and God. It puts God at the center of your thinking, planning, and living. It makes heaven your home. And it snaps us out of any spiritual sleep or complacency, to spiritual life and earnestness and eagerness.  This is the story of Jesus, Peter, and each of us.  Amen.